My HTPC

[imported_jocooper]

This is what I have come up with, some of the parts have already started to arrive!

Antec Overture Piano Black Case w/ 380W TruePower
Soyo SY-K7VME mATX Motherboard 266/333 AGP 8x
XP 2500+ 333FSB
512MB PC2700
ATI AIW 9600
80GB WD 7200RPM HD w/ 8mb buffer

I'm going to pick up a DVD drive next week when I get paid.


Any input?

 

[fLum0x]

why not bump up to the 9800?? it will perform better, but the price will also be more

i have had friends have alot of problems with soyo also

 

[imported_jocooper]

The price difference was a little bit too much for me, and the 9600 seems to be widely accepted as a good HTPC vid card. And plus I dont play games.

I got the soyo board "used" but new in box and the price was right. So if it sucks or has issues it wont be that big of a deal replacing it.

 

[Todd33]

Why not split the video card into a 9600 and WinTV 250?

 

[imported_jocooper]

Because I am not necessarily interested in recording video.

 

[mitchafi]

what exactly is a HTPC? I've always wondered...

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: mitchafi
what exactly is a HTPC? I've always wondered...

Home Theater Personal Computer

 

[MasterHoss]

I don't see anything listed to warrant calling this an HTPC. What else is going in there?

 

[imported_jocooper]

Huh? ATI AIW for the tv tuner and tv-out. Gonna be putting in a DVD drive as my original post states. Going to hooking it up to my Dolby Digital receiver via the Optical output on the Chaintech AV-710. What else could you want? Is it not a HTPC just because I don't have a PVR? lol

 

[Goi]

Frankly, a P4 is currently the best bang for the buck for HTPC usages, if you are gonna be using ffdshow. The Athlon XP series is gonna be too slow to do much useful resizing/sharpening/filtering, as well as HD material. You also don't need that fast a HDD for HTPC usage, so you can save a few bucks there by going for a slower and also quieter Seagate one. Of course you could save even more by going by one of those hot deals if you see one.

Just out of curiousity, what kinda display are you using? If it's a projector/plasma display, you won't need the "TV-out" since you'll be better off connecting it via D-15 or DVI.